Considerable heat is typically generated during the use and operation of a firearm, as a result of energy released by propellant, e.g., gunpowder, ignited during firing of the firearm to propel a projectile, e.g., bullet, through a barrel of the firearm. As the firearm is repeatedly fired, the energy released in the form of heat builds up in parts of the firearm, which can adversely affect firearm operation if the firearm gets too hot. While excessive heat buildup in the receiver of the firearm can interfere with use when it becomes too hot to touch, excessive heat buildup in the barrel of the firearm can cause the barrel to thermally distort or warp reducing accuracy. Even worse, heat buildup can become so great that it can actually cause the firearm to cease operating until it cools off and reaches a lower temperature where it will properly operate again. Where excessive heat buildup interferes with firearm operation, it can require a wait of several minutes to over an hour in order for the firearm to cool down enough to resume operation.
While many devices have been developed in the past to try to remedy such heat related firearm problems, they too are not without drawbacks. U.S. Pat. No. 7,143,821 discloses an apparatus for cooling metal tubes using a rather large enclosure which receives part of the tubular barrel and the receiver of a rifle to be cooled using outside air blown into the enclosure by a fan mounted to the enclosure. While claiming to be portable, the large size of the enclosure of the apparatus actually makes it rather bulky to use and unwieldy to transport. In addition, the cooling boot of the apparatus through which the rifle extends when inserted into the cooling apparatus has an aperture so large that the apparatus is prone to leakage of cooling air reducing cooling efficiency. Since cooling air entering the apparatus is not injected directly into the rifle, cooling efficiency is even further reduced.
While U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,734 discloses a rifle bore cooler that injects air directly into the bore of the barrel of a rifle to be cooled, it does so through the muzzle end of the barrel. Where the breech or ejection port of the rifle is covered by the bolt or another portion of the rifle, cooling air flow through the barrel is obstructed enough to significantly reduce cooling efficiency. Unless the breech or ejection port is first opened, air flow through the barrel will be so obstructed that cooling will be rather significantly reduced rendering the rifle bore cooler nearly ineffective.
What is needed is a light weight, portable, and transportable firearm cooler that is capable of cooling down of the firearm after being heated after repeated firings. What also is needed is a firearm cooler that possesses greater cooling efficiency and lower loss or leakage of barrel coolant during operation.